4 Interesting facts heading into Royal Rumble 2020

The Road to WrestleMania always begins at the Royal Rumble, usually with the winners of the titular matches going on to headline WrestleMania. One of the main reasons that the Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting pay-per-views of the year is due to how unpredictable the match truly can be. This year looks to be no different, as WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will enter this year’s Royal Rumble and will aim to be the third man in WWE history to win the match entering from the #1 slot.

Whilst there are a number of interesting statistics the WWE Universe may already be aware of such as the #27 entrant being the most successful entrant in the match, Santino Marella unfortunately holding the record of being eliminated the quickest at 1 second in 2009, a total of four women entering the Men's Royal Rumble match, and Stone Cold Steve Austin being the only wrestler to win the Royal Rumble match on three separate occasions, there are a number of additional facts and statistics that the WWE fans may not be aware of.

#4 Entrants from 12 numbers have still never won the Men’s Royal Rumble match

It’s hard to argue that a wrestler entering the Royal Rumble match at position #30 has a better chance of victory than a wrestler who entered near the start and has had to face off against half of the locker room already. Whilst a few wrestlers have defied the odds, such as Shawn Michaels in 1995 entering at #1 and Rey Mysterio in 2006 entering at #2, the statistics heavily favour the wrestlers that enter much later. This is why it should be no surprise that almost 60% of all the Royal Rumble winners have come from the last third of the entrants, and 34% of winners have entered at numbers 27, 28, 29, or 30.

However, a more interesting statistic is that there are still 12 numbers that have never seen a winner of the men's Royal Rumble match. Taking into consideration that there have already been 32 Royal Rumble pay-per-views, the fact that almost half of the numbers have still never had a winner is a shocking statistic. The number is even higher if you count the 40 man Royal Rumble in 2011 or the 50 Man Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018.

The numbers that have yet to taste victory in this match are: 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, and 26. Bearing this in mind, almost half of the participants in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match will want to change this statistic.

#3 Statistically, the 26th entrant is the unluckiest of all

Brock Lesnar couldn't win at number 26 back in 2017

Whilst 27 has statistically been the best entry number in the Royal Rumble match, with four wrestlers having won after entering at this position, the number before it is on the other end of the spectrum. Across all of the traditional Royal Rumble matches, the average amount of time the 26th entrant has spent in the match is only seven minutes and 24 seconds.

As you might expect with such a short amount of match time, several wrestlers that have entered with this unlucky number have been eliminated in less than a minute. This includes Shawn Michaels in 1990, Scotty 2 Hotty in 2001, and Bobby Lashley in 2019.

However, it’s not all bad news for whoever the 26th male entrant will be for this year’s Royal Rumble match. Two wrestlers who entered at number 26 have managed to get down to the final two in the Royal Rumble match - Big Show achieved it in 2000 (and only lost the match due to a controversial finish), and Kurt Angle in 2002.

Additional Fact – The 16th entrant is statistically the worst number to have in the Women’s Royal Rumble match.

Vickie's Guerrero tantrum didn't do her any favours wen she entered in at number 16 in 2018.

There have only been two Women’s Royal Rumble matches, but the 16th entrants have thus far done very poorly, combining to last only a total of 2 minutes and 25 seconds. The first entrant in that spot was Vickie Guerrero in 2018, who lasted 57 seconds. She was collectively eliminated by Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Michelle McCool and Ruby Riott. One year later, Naomi was eliminated after only 1 minute and 28 seconds when Mandy Rose pulled her legs from under her after just escaping elimination moments earlier.

#2 Zack Ryder is statistically the worst active male ‘rumbler’

Zack Ryder has never performed well in the Royal Rumble match.

Even though Titus O’Neil is the only male wrestler in WWE history that has been eliminated within five seconds or less on more than one occasion, he is statistically not the worst performing male wrestler in Royal Rumble matches.

Despite being a former Intercontinental and United States Champion, Zack Ryder is the worst active performing male wrestler in the WWE. From his four appearances in the traditional Royal Rumble match, three of them lasted less than a minute. His first appearance was back in 2010, when he entered in at number 7 but got suckered in by CM Punk using the mic as a weapon, before being thrown out of the ring only 32 seconds after he entered.

The following year, 2011, he entered in at number 4 but was eliminated in less than a minute again, this time by Daniel Bryan. He lasted 43 seconds that time, so at least there was some improvement! He did far better (by comparison) in 2013, when he was dumped by Randy Orton after lasting 2 minutes and 34 seconds. He went back to his comfort zone in 2015 when Bray Wyatt eliminated him just 34 seconds after he stepped into the ring.

His combined amount of time spent in all four of his appearances combined is only 4 minutes and 23 seconds, making his average time just under 1 minute and 6 seconds per match, lower than any other active male wrestler that has appeared in multiple Royal Rumble matches.

#1 Every Royal Rumble except the first has had an entrant eliminated in under a minute

Two-time Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella was eliminated in one second in 2009.

The phrase ‘anything can happen’ really applies to the unpredictable nature of the Royal Rumble match. Whilst there are usually a small handful of wrestlers that can go the distance, such as Finn Balor in 2018 and Natalya in 2019 both lasting over 55 minutes, there are also many wrestlers that spend very little time in the match. At Royal Rumble 2019, Liv Morgan and No Way Jose were eliminated as quick as they entered from their respective Royal Rumble matches.

There are some pretty crazy statistics. 1994 stands out with Diesel getting 3 back-to-back-to-back eliminations. The following year, 1995, blew it away, seeing a total of 7 men eliminated in less than one minute, although 1997, 1999, 2004, 2011, and 2015 gave it a run for its money with 6 under-one-minute eliminations each. 2010 is the undisputed winner, with 8 men entering and exiting in less than one minute. Let's break it down year-by-year:

1989 - The Warlord
1990 - Shawn Michaels
1991 - Bushwhacker Luke
1992 - Hercules
1993 - Terry Taylor, Papa Shango
1994 - Billy Gunn, Virgil, Bob Backlund
1995 - Owen Hart, Mo, Bob Backlund, Jacob Blu, Timoth Well, Bushwhackers Luke & Butch
1996 - Squat Teamer #1
1997 - Jerry Lawler, Fake Razor Ramon, Faarooq, Bart Gunn, Savio Vega, Jesse James
1998 - Tom Brandi
1999 - Gillberg, Golga, Chyna, Gangrel, Al Snow, Kane
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2000 - Faarooq, Chyna, Bradshaw, Steve Blackman
2001 - Tazz, The Goodfather, Scotty 2 Hotty, Faarooq
2002 - Booker T, Faarooq, The Hurricane, Albert
2003 - B Squared, Goldust, Tommy Dreamer
2004 - The Hurricane, Rene Dupree, Shelton Benjamin, Bradshaw, Mick Foley, Ernest Miller
2005 - Simon Dean, Kurt Angle, Muhammad Hassan
2006 - Sylvan, Booker T, Jonathan Coachman, Simon Dean, Chavo Guerrero
2007 - The Miz, The Sandman
2008 - Shelton Benjamin, Santino Marella, Jamie Noble
2009 - Santino Marella, The Brian Kendrick, Dolph Ziggler
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2010 - MVP, The Miz, Matt Hardy, JTG, Yoshi Tatsu, Chris Masters, Zack Ryder, Shelton Benjamin
2011 - Tyler Reks, Vladimir Kozlov, Zack Ryder, Tyson Kidd, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel
2012 - Epico, Jerry Lawler, Jim Duggan
2013 - The Godfather, Santino Marella
2014 - Great Khali, R-Truth, JBL
2015 - Titus O'Neil, Adam Rose, Damien Mizdow, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, The Boogeyman
2016 - Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, R-Truth
2017 - James Ellsworth, Enzo Amore
2018 - Sheamus, Heath Slater, The Hurricane
2019 - No Way Jose, Xavier Woods, Titus O'Neil, Bobby Lashley, Jinder Mahal

The two Women's Royal Rumble matches, for the record, have only seen two women exit after under a minute. Vickie Guerrero in 2018 and Liv Morgan in 2019.

Based on previous history, it is looking likely the WWE Universe will see another ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ elimination this year.